A decade ago

10 years ago today I said "yes" to a date with a young, funny, and persistent blue eyed boy. Today, I am married to the man God knew I needed; the man that makes me smile, calms me down, and truly lifts my spirits. 

Josh, I am honored to be your wife and I am lucky to call you my best friend. 

Thanks for asking me out, all those years ago.

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

Goodbye 2011

So, yea. This post was due well over a week ago, but between the holidays and my obsession with The Hunger Games Triology, I've been WAY too busy to set aside 20 minutes to blog. I wish I could blame it on spending way to much time logging miles in the 'ole Asics, but sadly I've been battling stupid non-running-related injuries which have kept me sidelined for the past few weeks. 

But alas, my holidays were splendid. They were spent with my favorite people and I was reminded how blessed I am. Kind of like this past year.

2011 was pretty amazing, to say the least.

We saw lots of snow at the beginning of the year.

A lot of time was spent with friends.

I rocked some awesome races:

 like a wintery 5k,

my first triathlon,

 

an awesome half marathon with friends,

and a memorable half with my hubs.

 We went on a family cruise.

 Josh and I spent my birthday in Hot Springs, hiking and staying at our family's lake house.

We celebrated our 1 year anniversary!

We moved to Fayetteville.

My mom got a pool.

 And we got a puppy!

At the beginning of the year I proclaimed my love for new year resolutions and set a few for myself. Lets see how I faired...

1. Run a 5K, 10K, and half marathon; and set a new PR

Partially accomplished: I completed a 5k and a half marathon and set personal records in both. Wahoo! But I never even signed up for a 10k.

2. Save 20% of our yearly income

Done! Despite the cost of moving, we were still able to keep our savings at 20%, with $8 surplus. 

3. Take a photography class

Complete fail: Never gave this more than a second thought. 

4. Become more confident in my sewing abilities.

Between baby showers and the need to decorate my house, I consider this partially completed. I suppose you can say I am more confident in my abilities, I still have no real clue what I am doing. 

Taking this time to reflect over 2011 has me even more excited for the possibilities of this new year. Stay tuned for the epic resolutions of 2012!

Fayetteville Update

Howdy from Northwest Arkansas! 

Where Razorback Love runs deep and cute little shops are around every corner!

It has officially been 11 days since we moved to our new home in Fayetteville. So far, we are loving Northwest Arkansas: the Farmer's Market is awesome, the running trail is perfect, and the proximity to friends and Walmart is amazing!

However, we have yet to fully adjust to our new home: it is still strange to wake up in a different house each morning, we keep forgetting which drawer holds the silverware, and decorating a bright orange room is proving to be a little difficult. (Actually, two orange rooms...believe me, horrible pictures will be up soon).

The Pups are loving the new house. They have an extra large play-area in the living room and their very own fenced-in backyard. Seriously, they couldn't imagine more. Their little puppy brains are in puppy heaven right now.

But surprisingly, I am already feeling more at home here as opposed to Fort Smith. This is largely due to our friend quota increasing by 500%. It is nice to have couple-friends to do things with...we actually have plans for a dinner date tomorrow night. Crazy! Having friends in the same town as you = more fun!

Also, we have already found a church! It took us over a year to find a good fit in Ft. Smith, so I am pumped that we already have an amazing place to plug in and get connected!

And even more exciting news, we are having our first guests this weekend! Our goal is to spruce up the house as much as possible, but did you know moving is kinda expensive?! After 100 trips to Walmart and a billion utility deposits our checking account is slightly lower than I would like. Decorating with a limitless budget would be so much easier. Stupid expenses.

So, as we continue to settle in, I plan to post pictures and keep you updated on our life in Razorback Country!

Moving Mania

Wow. 3-day weekends rock! Am I right, or am I right? Seeing how Josh and I are moving in just a few short weeks, we took full advantage of our extra time.

On Saturday, I woke up to meet the butt-crack of dawn and some friends for my weekly long run. The schedule said 8 miles and I was ready to rock it's face off. This is how I felt before the run.

Sadly though, after bragging how well my long runs have been going, it sucked. (Karma's a B!) Miles 1-3 felt great, but 4-8 were horrible. By the last mile I was constantly negotiating with myself to go just a little bit farther.

" Run 10 more minutes and you can get some ice cream"

"Run 5 more minutes and then you can walk for 30 seconds"

"Run 1 more minute and you will never have to run again in your life"

"Run 30 more seconds and you can buy a new car...screw Josh and your savings!"

This is how I felt after my run. Now where is my new car?

Of course, I have to blame my bad run on something other than my abilities, so I contribute it to: 1. Speed work of 4 miles the day before, and 2. Not enough calories before and during the run. Now that I'm upping my mileage and running more than 1hour at a time, I really need to start some calorie intake during my runs.

On Sunday Josh and I got serious about our packing situation. We completely packed up our guestroom and closet, broke down the bed, and took all living-room decorations down. It's nice to know we already have so much accomplished. Good thing I consider myself a 'professional mover' seeing as how I have moved in and out of dorm rooms, apartments, and houses 5 times in the past 4 years. Yikes!

So now we have boxes filling up our guestroom; the only scary thing is we have no place to move to. Apparently, people do not want to rent to a married couple with a good steady income. Boo. I have a feeling it has something to do with our picky 'must-have' list and these two crazy mutts.

Adorable, Yes.
Ideal for rentals? No.

Speaking of my two perfect furr balls; we took them to the dog park for the first time on Monday. This was Sully's first trip and she loved it!

The dog is the complete opposite of her big sister.

Water-Loves it! Fetching-A natural!

Despite the stress of moving, this holiday weekend couldn't have gone better!

September Goals

After reviewing my goals for August, I'm eager to get my September goals rolling!! Although I didn't meet all the goals I set for myself last month, I'm pretty certain I did more than I would have if I hadn't set any (*cough* research articles *cough cough*).

My September goals are:

1. Personal: Intentionally Improve My Marriage- Sarah from Peas and Thank You posted earlier this week an email-exchange her and her husband use to do to keep connected during the day. So I did what every good blogger does and stole the idea (and giver her credit of course!) Each day I will text three things to Josh: 1. Today I feel...; 2. I love you because...; and 3. [insert any question].

The first day went like this:
From Alex: "1. Today I feel excited about our new adventures; 2. I love you because you calm me when I'm stressed out; and 3. How are the puppies doing today?"
Josh responded: "1. Today I feel relieved from a poop I just took; 2. I love you because you are my sugar momma; and 3. What time are you getting off work?"

Wow.

So sentimental.

Thanks Hun.

2. Random: Walk the Dogs Daily- Ajax loves to go on walks and walks on a leash perfectly; we want Sully to walk just as well. Seeing how Sully will be a much bigger dog, we want to train her now, instead of waiting a trying to yank around a 50 pound dog. Plus, they could both use the exercise.

2. Fitness: Complete All Speed and Long Distance Runs- I did so well with this goal last month that I decided it needed to stay. A small gift for myself, if accomplished, may or may not be involved.

Ps. My long runs have ROCKED! I look forward to them every week. I actually enjoy waking up at the butt-crack of dawn each Saturday. Who am I?! Tomorrow I have 8 miles on the schedule and I am pumped!

3. Professional: Transition To My New Job With Limited Hysteria- That's right friends. I have put in my 2-week notice with my current job and my first day at the new one will be Sept 19th.

I am torn with emotion over this huge change: First, Josh won't be driving an hour to school for all his classes and I've always loved the Fayetteville area, but I have the perfect job with the best coworkers and we have no place to live in Fayetteville yet. I'm scared, excited, nervous, and stressed all at the same time!

So much change happening so fast!

So, while I don't have a lot of listed goals this month, I know I will be crazy busy and will be happy if I merely survive it all. Moving and changing jobs is going to be huge and stressful, so if I become MIA for a while, I'll probably be in a corner hoping the boxes will pack themselves.

Please pray for my husband during this time. I'm afraid my text messages my turn out like this...
1. Today I feel like I could strangle a baby kitten; 2. I love you because despite the fact that you are a horrible packer; 3. I'm so nervous starting my new job I could vomit...will you hold back my hair?

If

If I hadn't bought a new puppy...

If my husband hadn't stayed up late with said puppy...

If this puppy didn't have a desire to chew everything...

If this puppy hadn't chosen to chew my computer charger...

If said charger didn't cost 80 bones at Best Buy

If it didn't take 5-7 days for Amazon to ship chargers....

...I might be able to download pictures

...I might be able to upload pictures to my blog

...I might be able to share with you my new recipe.

But no "if's" in this story.

My new puppy did chew my computer charger and I am waiting patiently for Amazon to send me a new one.

In the mean time I am typing on my husband's ancient laptop.

It is a *gulp* PC.

Yuck.

I'm a Mac girl. Through and through.

Yet here I sit, on a PC

counting down the days until UPS brings me a present.

And my assumption is your counting down the days too.

Because this said recipe is quite delicious.

I might or might not have given myself a tummy ache last night from eating way too much.

But I can't share the recipe yet, because recipes without pictures are boring.

I hate recipes without pictures.

What's the point! 

I need to see what the end result is going to look like.

Is a picture too much to ask?

So once I have my charger

and once I can upload my pictures,

I will post this amazing recipe.

Because it is awesome!

A List in Disguise- My August Goals

One thing I have noticed about fellow-bloggers is that many of us love lists. I have professed my love for lists many times- they keep me organized, focused, and motivated to get through each day, week, or even month. I have even rubbed some list-love off on my husband, who (whom?) actually requests for a daily to-do list for things I need accomplished around the house.

Yes, my husband is awesomely amazing. Yes, I know how lucky I am. Yes, I really just want some flowers. (Hint Hint Husband)

But really, lists are just goals in disguise. And like many other bloggers, I have decided to create official monthly goals which I will proclaim for the entire world to see/read/ignore.

August Goals:

Professional- Read 5 Research Articles pertaining to speech language pathology. When in graduate school, I had a deep-pitted hatred for research articles and vowed to never read one again. Now strangely, I LOVE them! I miss learning and I crave the knowledge again. I suppose since I’m not required to read them, I want to read them. Crazy how that works. However, I haven’t been devoting near enough time to expanding my knowledge-base. This month I plan to make steps in changing that.

Personal-Intentionally Improve My Marriage. Yes, the past 14 months have been the best months of my life. And no, we are not having ‘marital problems’. But I want to keep it that way. It is so easy to get caught up in my daily list of to-dos that I forget to spend quality time talking, listening, and snuggling with the husband without distractions. This month I want to make a point to have quality dinner-time each night. Also, I really need to be more respectful to my amazing husband in the words I choose and the tone I speak. I quickly become annoyed, impatient, and snappy at those closest to me and I want to make a conscious effort to speak more with love. I want to be quick to encourage, not snap. Because my goodness, I honestly don’t know how my Husband puts up with me!

Personal- Read 2 Books. I want these to be fun reads. Completely thoughtless reads. Something I can escape to and live in a world created by words. Any suggestions?

Fitness-Complete All Speed Workouts and Long Runs of my half-marathon training schedule. This is pretty self-explanatory. I just really want to kick-butt in training this time around; I CAN’T miss these vital workouts!  

So there you have it. My official list for August. Small and VERY doable.

Eek- just looking at this list makes me excited for this month! It’s going be the best one yet!

What are your August goals?

Do you have any book suggestions?

Wedding Flashback

This weekend I was able to watch two high school friends make a beautiful commitment to one another. Sarah and Aron are an amazing pair and their love for each other is radiant. 

Their wedding was elegant, tear-jerking, and a little reminecent of a wedding I attended about a year ago...

It was my first time to return to Albert Pike since our wedding last year and it brought back a flood of memories. It reminded me of the words Josh and I exchanged and the promises we made in front of God, family and friends; it literally brought tears to my eyes.

Weddings tend to do that to me. Don't they do that to you too?

But soon after the tears, the party started. If Sarah and Aron know anything (besides cooking and tattoos)  they sure know how to have a good time! Since we all graduated together, it was like a mini-high school reunion full of all my favorite people.

Best friends for 9+ years! How did I get so lucky?

 Me and the Mister

 Me and Shelley, the MOH and my favorite vegan blogger!

 Me and Jessi, my night's dancing partner. She got some moves!

Congrats Sara and Aron! 

I wish you guys a lifetime of happiness! 

The Beginning: Part 2

If you missed it, here is The Beginning: Part 1

It was the day after Christmas (and I got a new point-and-shoot camera, hence all the pictures) and Josh and I had planned to have a fun and relaxing day with each other. All week we had been talking about going ice skating and it seemed like the perfect time to go; even though we had wanted to go every winter, in the 5 years we had been dating not once had we found time to do it. 

I'd like to take a tangent right here and say ice skating always looks so graceful and fun but really it's just awkward and makes your ankles hurt. It wasn't nearly as romantic as what I had pictured in my head!

But we had a lot of fun and I don't recall anyone embarrassing themselves too badly.

Next, we ran errands for my brother. He needed some things done at his apartment and Josh was just the man to fix them. (Can you see why I had no idea the 'question' was coming- it was a completely ordinary day!) This is another reason why I knew Josh was a keeper- he loves Derek as much as he loves me. And as you can tell, the feeling is mutual.

By now I was getting hungry so Josh suggested we head downtown to get some grub. Little did I know, he was imagining the beautiful scenery to be a perfect backdrop to our engagement; I was just focusing on getting me some chicken fingers! (Strange craving....even stranger that I remember). We decided to walk along the river path and over a bridge to watch the sunset. And while we were wrapped up in each other's arms, Josh started talking about how wonderful life was together and how much he loved me. Josh then pulled away, got down on one knee, and told me he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. He then asked if I wanted the same. With tears in my eyes I excitedly said shouted 'Yes!' and we embraced for what seemed like forever.

This engagement was so 'us'. So perfect. AND I got my chicken fingers in the end!

Seriously, the best moment of my life...this is until May 14, 2010.